THE BIRDS OF LARATINGA

Bob Snell

Introduction

Laratinga Wetlands were constructed for the cleaning of treated sewerage effluent and stormwater. The cleaned water is used for the irrigation of local market gardens, parks and recreation areas. Laratinga occupies approximately 20 hectares of land previously used for grazing cattle, and bounded by Mount Barker Effluent Treatment Works, Springs Road, Bald Hills Road and the Mount Barker Creek (Laratinga). Excavation and construction was completed and flooding commenced in mid 2000. It consists of a series of eleven interconnected ‘ponds’. Treated effluent enters the wetlands at Pond 1 (my naming) and the cleaned water pumped to irrigators from Pond 11. Pond 2 and Pond 3 are connected via an underground pipe, and a creek or channel takes water from Pond 7 to Pond 8.

The area around the ponds has been revegetated with a large variety of trees, shrubs and herbs thought to have been native to this area prior to white settlement. These plantings are quite dense, and many of the trees have now reached heights of four to five metres. As these plantings mature the nature and variety of the bird population changes. In the early days of Laratinga Wetlands Black-fronted Dotterel and Masked Lapwing were a common sight on the gravel paths surrounding the ponds; now one is more likely to see Superb Fairy-wren, Common Blackbird and White-plumed Honeyeater. The ponds have been planted with Common Reed, Narrow-leaf Bulrush, Bolboshoenus, Loose-flower Rush and River Eel-grass. There are many mature Red Gums within the wetlands.

Laratinga cannot be considered in isolation from its surroundings. Birds constantly move between the Wetlands, the Effluent Lagoons and the surrounding paddocks. For the purposes of this report the Wetlands, Effluent Lagoons and Mount Barker Creek are considered as a single unit.

Between October 2000 and April 2006 I kept records of the birds seen during seventy visits to Laratinga. Details of the ninety-six species that I recorded in that period are listed in Table 1. An additional eight species reported to me by other observers are shown in Table 2.

References

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